Thao Le

Thao Le

PhD Candidate at VU Amsterdam

I am a PhD Candidate in Operations Research at the Department of Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where I am supervised by Prof. Bernd Heidergott and Dr. Ines Lindner.

My research interests include:

  • Network Analysis
  • Markov Chains
  • Stochastic Optimization
  • Quantitative Marketing
  • Machine Learning & Agentic AI

I am also a Visiting Researcher at the Data Science Hub of De Nederlandsche Bank (Dutch Central Bank) and the Marketing Management department of Rotterdam School of Management.

Prior to my PhD, I completed my Research Master in Business Data Science at Tinbergen Institute (joint degree from University of Amsterdam, Erasmus University Rotterdam, and VU Amsterdam). I also hold a BSc from Maastricht University, with a major in Data Science & Operations Research.

Latest News

Mar 2026
preprint Happy to share that my first PhD paper is available in preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.26414
Feb 2026
talk I presented at the VU Operations Analytics Seminar in Amsterdam: https://vu.nl/en/events/2026/thao-le-growth-in-saturated-market
Oct 2025
award I received the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Department of Economics at VU Amsterdam for the course “Data Analytics for Economists”.
Oct 2025
general I joined De Nederlandsche Bank as a Visiting Researcher at the Data Science Hub, working on European inter-bank money market networks.
Jun 2025
award I won Best Flash Talk and Poster Presentation at the INFORMS Marketing Science Conference in Washington D.C.! 🎉
May 2025
talk I presented at the Network Science Conference in Maastricht, The Netherlands.